Growth Equity Strategies
“We are long-term patient investors. We strategically allocate capital to
select high-quality businesses with sustainable growth, only when they
trade at a significant discount to our estimate of intrinsic value.”
Aziz V. Hamzaogullari, CFA
Founder, Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager
The Loomis Sayles Growth Fund is honored to receive the Gold Medalist Rating from Morningstar.*
As of 29 December 2023.
In Assets Under Management
As of 3/31/2024
Combined Years of Investment Experience
As of 6/30/2024
Investment Philosophy
Supported by a seven-step research framework
Our Investment Philosophy
We are an active manager with a long-term, private equity approach to investing. Through our proprietary bottom-up research framework, we look to invest in those few high-quality businesses with sustainable competitive advantages and profitable growth when they trade at a significant discount to our estimate of intrinsic value.
Alpha Thesis
We believe a focus on the quality of a manager's investment philosophy, process, and decision-making is essential for assessing the probability of future success. Our alpha thesis encapsulates a deeply held system of persistent beliefs, a rigorous, repeatable investment process and substantive proof points.
Selective Investing
Our Quality-Growth-Valuation investment process begins with the art of trying to identify high-quality companies—those with unique, difficult-to-replicate business models and sustainable competitive advantages.
Bottom-Up Research
Our proprietary seven-step research framework represents our long-standing insights about investing and is structured around three key criteria: Quality, Growth, and Valuation.
Private Equity Approach
Because we approach investing as if we are buying into a private business, a long investment horizon is central to our philosophy.
Active Risk Management
Because we define risk as a permanent loss of capital, we take an absolute-return approach to investing and seek to actively manage our downside risk.
Long-Term Investor
In our view, a long investment horizon affords us the opportunity to capture value from secular growth opportunities as well as capitalize on the stock market’s shortsightedness through a process called time arbitrage.
DECISION-MAKING PROCESS
Seven-Step Research Framework
Through the disciplined and thorough implementation of bottom-up fundamental analysis, we seek to understand the drivers, opportunities and limits of each business. Click through to explore our research framework, outlined step-by-step.
High-quality businesses are rare. We believe less than one percent of all businesses are able to sustain their competitive advantages beyond a decade. We also believe less than one percent of businesses can generate durable and profitable long-term growth. Demanding these two characteristics means we must be very selective and patient investors.
- Aziz V. Hamzaogullari
Step 1
QUALITY
The Sustainable Competitive Advantage
We seek to identify unique elements and defensibility of a company's business model and sources and sustainability of a company's competitive advantage.
Step 2
QUALITY
Competitive Analysis
We assess barriers to entry, industry rivalry, power of buyers vs. suppliers and substitution threats. We evaluate the entire value chain and profit pool to discern the structural winners and losers in the long term.
Step 3
QUALITY
Financial Analysis
We are seeking self-sufficient business models, with strong and sustainable cash flow generation capability as well as a proven and forecasted ability to generate returns above the cost of capital.
Step 4
QUALITY
Management
Our goal is to partner with management teams oriented to creating shareholder value, who share our long-term perspective, who have demonstrated the ability to allocate capital effectively, and who manage the business with vision and integrity.
Step 5
GROWTH
Growth Drivers
Our growth estimate is developed independent of company guidance or Street expectations. To assess the sustainability of the company’s growth rate, we evaluate the drivers of that growth. We focus on long-term secular and structural growth opportunities - dynamics that aren’t likely to change for five years or longer.
Step 6
VALUATION
Intrinsic Value Ranges
We believe that the present value of future cash flows is a superior measure of economic performance and is our core methodology for measuring a company's intrinsic value. We establish our best, base, bear and worst case valuation scenarios. These valuation ranges guide the timing of both our buy and sell decisions.
Step 7
VALUATION
Expectations Analysis
We perform this analysis to assess the valuation assumptions implied by the current stock price. It is important to differentiate fundamentals drivers of value from market sentiment. The objective is to understand where and how our perspective diverges from that of the market. We are looking for investment opportunities where our perspective and assumptions differ significantly from the consensus.
Explore the Team's
Product Offerings
Our Alpha Thesis
We believe a focus on the quality of a manager's investment philosophy, process, and decision-making is essential for assessing the probability of future success. Our alpha thesis encapsulates a deeply held system of persistent beliefs, a rigorous, repeatable investment process and substantive proof points.
Bottoms Up! Finding the Advantage in the Global Beer Value Chain
The qualities that make a business great are universal in nature. How does the Growth Equity Strategies team identify and capture value? Watch to learn more.
Aziz Hamzaogullari Market Update March 2020
Aziz Hamzaogullari and Joe Ferrara, Investment Strategist at Natixis Investment Managers, discuss recent market turbulence and the risks and opportunities present in near-term market conditions.
Covid-19 Commentary
Large Cap Growth
All Cap Growth
Global Growth
Articles & Accolades
Archived since 2013
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Awards
Learn About the Growth Equity Strategies Team Members
Disclosure
Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Best Mutual Funds Award (annual) are based on year-end performance for funds with at least a 10-year performance record and outperformed their Morningstar category for the past 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10- years periods. Loomis Sayles Growth Fund, Class Y, received IBD’s Best Mutual Funds Award for the following IBD categories and periods: Large Cap Funds (2019: 94 received award out of 731; 2020: 88 received award out of 986; 2021: 27 received award out of 919), U.S. Diversified Stock Funds (2019: 111 received award out of 1309; 2020: 139 received award out of 1835; 2021: 29 received award out of 1705), and Growth Stock Funds (2019: 108 received award out of 520; 2020: 25 received award out of 688; 2021: 25 received award out of 629). Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
*© 2024 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.
The Morningstar Medalist Rating™ is not a credit or risk rating. It is a subjective evaluation performed by the mutual fund analysts of Morningstar, Inc. Morningstar evaluates funds based on five key pillars, which are process, performance, people, parent, and price. Morningstar’s analysts use this five pillar evaluation to identify funds they believe are more likely to outperform over the long term on a risk-adjusted basis. Analysts consider quantitative and qualitative factors in their research, but the assessment and weighting of each of the five pillars is driven by the analyst’s overall assessment and overseen by Morningstar’s Analyst Rating Committee. A fund with “Gold” rating distinguishes itself across the five pillars and has garnered the analysts’ highest level of conviction.
This marketing communication is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. Investment decisions should consider the individual circumstances of the particular investor. Any opinions or forecasts contained herein, reflect the subjective judgments and assumptions of the authors only, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. Investment recommendations may be inconsistent with these opinions. There is no assurance that developments will transpire as forecasted and actual results will be different. Information, including that obtained from outside sources, is believed to be correct, but we cannot guarantee its accuracy. This information is subject to change at any time without notice.
Key Risks: Equity Risk, Market Risk, Non-US Securities Risk, Liquidity Risk.
Investing involves risk including possible loss of principal.
Any opinions or forecasts contained herein reflect the current subjective judgments and assumptions of the Growth Equity Strategies Team only, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. This information is subject to change at any time without notice.
Commodity, interest and derivative trading involves substantial risk of loss.
Any investment that has the possibility for profits also has the possibility of losses, including the loss of principal.
Diversification does not ensure a profit or guarantee against a loss.
Market conditions are extremely fluid and change frequently.
Past performance is no guarantee of, and not necessarily indicative of, future results.
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